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We are moving this summer from Colorado to Maryland. My husband will be working at Ft. Meade/NSA so Columbia makes perfect sense for us. We lived in Severn many years ago (before our kids were school age) so I'm familiar with the Kings Contrivance area of Columbia. Is that neigbhorhood still okay? Diversity is good (our daughter we adopted is part african american) but want the right type of diversity... My biggest issue is our budget is $450k and we need a SFH (we have 2 large dogs). I don't need the best schools but I also don't want to be in an area overrun with section 8. I see that kids in this area go to Hammond HS. Its gets average reviews on paper, wondering if there is anything negative about that school or area??? Thank you!!

I live in Kings Contrivance. I don't see any problems with living here. There are some apartments to the east of Hammond High that might have some Section 8, but I dunno. The thing with Columbia is that Section 8 tend to stick to apartment complexes so if you buy or rent a house/condo you will not be "surrounded" by Section 8.

The only issue I have with living is when the power goes out. For reasons for which I am not certain, when the area loses power we are some of the last residents to have it restored. Over the past year and half power in KC went out three times and remained out for 4-5 days.

KC is a great location for the commute to the Fort, especially with the traffic getting worse and worse, and I think you'll be able to find a pretty nice home there in your price range. I used to live in the Huntington neighborhood and it was very walkable, and you have the option of taking back roads instead of Rt. 32. If you want to know more about any high school, you can go here and click on the School Profile. The reduced/free lunch number will give you an idea of what to expect with Section 8. Howard County Public School System

Thanks Newhart. I appreciate your feedback. The KC area sure looks great; fingers crossed we find something this summer. And you are right, my husband will love the commute. Plus, this is our final resting place (husband will retire soon) so I just want to make this our last move for awhile!

The only issue I have with living is when the power goes out. For reasons for which I am not certain, when the area loses power we are some of the last residents to have it restored. Over the past year and half power in KC went out three times and remained out for 4-5 days.

That's not unique to KC. There are multiple neighborhoods in Howard County that can tell a similar story, including mine. You pretty much have to own a generator to live in my neighborhood on the border of EC/Columbia.

That's not unique to KC. There are multiple neighborhoods in Howard County that can tell a similar story, including mine. You pretty much have to own a generator to live in my neighborhood on the border of EC/Columbia.

This is based partially on my experiences and partially with talking to a local elected official I met at Harris Teeter while I was using one of their outlets to charge my phone (they have generators). It sucks that any neighborhood should be affected for so many days, but it is a reality of living in KC, I suppose. Ironically, I have yet to see anyone in Oakland Mills lose power.

The local grocery store, Harris Teeter, has generators so they do not loose electricity and you can still buy groceries and Starbucks coffee if need be. They also give out bags of ice so the stuff in your freezer/fridge stays even though I ending up tossing most of my fridge out the last two outages. Generator noise is common during an outage, but my guess would be that only one in 10 homes around here have one.

Wow, you are not kidding! I had no idea the cost of generators! When we lived in Ohio, a WIND storm knocked our power out for 9.5 days. I cannot imagine those who go through far worse storms and have it out far longer.

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